Our Kids Say Funny Things

Example #1:

Situation - Ashlyn (4 1/2) came home from preschool and screamed loudly (a common occurrence for her) because she was upset that I left something in the car.

Brenna (21 mos.): She's crying.
Me: She's angry.
Brenna: I'm angry, too. Ahhhhhhhh!


Example #2:

Situation - My Mom sent 3 stuffed animals (pig, cow, and sheep) in a package for the girls. Ashlyn was the only one home and awake when the package arrived, so she chose the pig for herself. When Brenna woke up Ashlyn tried to give her the sheep, but Brenna was only interested in the pig. Ashlyn tried to give her the cow, which was not rejected as strongly as the sheep had been, but she was still mainly interested in the pig. Ashlyn, in a rare moment of benevolence, voluntarily gave Brenna the pig and took the sheep for herself.

Me: Ashlyn, I'm really proud of you for giving Brenna the toy that you wanted. Doesn't it feel nice to do something good like that?!
Ashlyn: Yeah! I beed like Jesus! I finally learned! I did it! (She then proceeded to explain how Kaylee would now be the one to get in trouble all the time, because, apparently, Kaylee has not yet figured out how to be like Jesus.)

Jack-O-Lanterns

Kaylee and Ashlyn both went on pumpkin patch field trips with their schools this year. They each came home with a small pumpkin that they wanted to make into a jack-o-lantern.

So, Monday afternoon we carved pumpkins (meaning, Kaylee and Ashlyn scooped out a few seeds, then watched me do everything else - though Kaylee did draw the design for her pumpkin face).

Ashlyn's pumpkin is a cat (if you couldn't tell by my not-so-hot carving skills).

Kaylee wanted hers to be a clown.

And here's Brenna, who did not participate in the carving, but who did look adorable in her Halloween shirt.

Family Night

For our family night lesson this week we decided to do something completely interactive and (hopefully) educational. We learned about geography . . . and temples.

We taped a road map of the United States on the wall, then went through a chronological list of LDS temples, having Kaylee and Ashlyn place stars on each temple location. There are more than 70 temples in the US, so I wasn't sure they'd make it all the way through before tiring of the activity. It went fairly quickly though, and they got excited about temples close to our various family members (Chicago, Portland, etc.)


I think Russ and I were surprised about how much we learned from the map as well ("There's a temple in North Dakota?! Texas has FOUR temples?!)

The only issue we had with the activity was a little over-crowding in Utah. :)

(P.S. The circle stickers were to distinguish temples that have only been announced.)

It was a fun lesson, and hopefully we'll keep adding to our map as the years go by.

Rapunzel

Kaylee and Ashlyn have seen Tangled a few times, as evidenced by the following video. (You may have to turn up the volume on your computer to hear Ashlyn/Rapunzel's song.)



P.S. The string of blankets tied together is supposed to be her long hair.

One Year Older

Wednesday evening we celebrated Russ' 31st birthday.

The girls gave him the movie "Despicable Me".

It's a cute show with a very touching moral
(perhaps even more touching if you have three little girls of your own).

He also received a new shirt (pictured here),
a few classical CDs (big shocker there),
a new fleece jacket (almost exactly like the now-not-so-fleecy jacket he received for his birthday 8 years ago),

and KINECT for the XBox.

KINECT is a sensor that connects to the XBox console and allows for hands-free gaming.

Once Kaylee and Ashlyn figured out where to stand and how to move
they really enjoyed the games.
We anticipate many hours of family fun with this gift. :)

The night capped off with some yummy Peach Jell-O Pie
(Russ isn't a big fan of cake).

We love celebrating!!!